its mindbending.. church and technology.

my wife used to work in graphic design, she started up her own business and grew it out to the point of needing to hire employees. knowing she was going to eventually become a manager, she went to the families established business. dad wanted to her onboard too, so it worked out well. my mom-in-law is a travel agent, she’s been doing that for quite a few years. both get frustrated with an aspect of their work where people feel like they know the ins and outs of their work so much that they will use them for work, but not give them fair treatment because the individual has some idea how they can do it themselves. the truth is, they are experts for reasons, they know their trade, the basic stuff & the fine nuance.

its with that family history in mind that i know the church struggles with technology, especially internet technology. so many folks have now created content on the net, worked on computers, navigated a network, etc that everyone is, in some way, an expert in bringing technology to the church. problem is, that is a recipe for disaster. once i sat in on a church website team that argued over which animated cross and flame gif file was to be on the homepage (my answer was, neither!). so how does one get the people needed to help implement needed tech tools into the church?

greg at churchvideoideas has some thought worth heeding.

The problem with IT/media ministries is that most people that like
technology are quiet people. They see things so clearly that they
believe that if someone wanted their help, they’d ask. This isn’t about
ego, it is about how they see the world and the church – it just makes
logical sense to them. What they don’t realize is that you have to let
people know about your passions and interests.